Leadership Principles: Culture
As my children and I sat in the drive through at one of our local fast food restaurants one Sunday after church I turned to them and said,
“there’s no such thing as fast food anymore.”
My children looked at me with a bit of bewilderment. Clearly we’re at a fast food restaurant but after a longer than necessary wait for at best mediocre food, I was talking about the “fast” part of the nomenclature. I’m not sure what it’s like where you live but it feels like places that have quality customer service, polite workers, etc. is the exception instead of the norm.
What is it that separates good restaurants, churches, or organizations from the, well, not so good ones? In a word; culture. Culture is, in a simple definition, what the organization is at it’s core. Ultimately this is what dictates how that organization functions, what standards they keep, and quite honestly what they’ll tolerate. What does this mean for us as leaders though? I think we have to look at it from one of two perspectives.
The first one is for the leader that has stepped into an environment that has a good culture. Things function as they are meant to and people feel honored and valued. These leaders are fortunate indeed but still need to do the work of maintaining this culture. Chris Hodges, pastor of The Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, AL says,
“leaders don’t create culture, they live it.”
For these leaders that have had the privilege of stepping into a great organization, that means someone has lived that culture out in a way that others have bought into it. Honor those that have come before you and carry it out. Honor those in your organization so that they feel valued. Continue the traditions and legacies that have been put in place. Live out the culture that you’ve been blessed to inherit.
For the not so fortunate leaders, those that have stepped into (or maybe even had their hand in) organizations that don’t have this type of culture; things aren’t working as they should, the same advice that Pastor Chris gave rings true. I know for me, I oftentimes notice things I don’t like and my tendency is to want to “fix” it. Maybe have a conversation about doing it differently or changing something. What I need to do first is to live out the culture in which these things are done correctly. From there, and only from there and depending on the relationship, I could possibly have a conversation on what the culture could look like in this instance. It’s harder to do this but it’s ultimately rewarding, for both the leader and the organization.
What is the culture like in your organization? Is it the exception and stands out or is falling into the unfortunate norm? What are some ways you can live out the culture you hope your organization has? I’d love to hear your thoughts!